Argentina make City plea

03 Oct 2009 14:25:58

Argentina want Manchester City to leave Carlos Tevez and Pablo Zabaleta out of their team for Monday's clash with Aston Villa.
Under-pressure coach Diego Maradona is keen for the duo not to be involved as he prepares his side for their crucial qualifiers against Peru and Uruguay on 10th and 14th October.
Eastlands manager Mark Hughes is very unlikely to be keen on any suggestion that he leaves two key players out of his plans for the Premier League fixture.
Reports in South America suggest that City have already rejected an initial approach but have offered to fly the duo to Buenos Aires immediately after the match.
Maradona is now set to make a personal plea to City, with Argentina in serious danger of missing out on qualification for next summer's World Cup finals in South Africa.
The South American giants are currently fifth in the standings, with only the top four guaranteed to progress to next summer's showpiece and the side in fifth entering a play-off.
An Argentina Football Federation spokesman said: "We want to reach an agreement with City."